Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Prosecutors rest in trial of man who shot teen

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Prosecutors rested their case Monday in the trial of a Florida man charged with killing a teen after an argument over loud music outside a Jacksonville convenience store.

Prosecutors called an associate medical examiner as their last witness in direct testimony, a week after jury selection began in the first-degree murder trial of Michael Dunn. Dunn is charged with first-degree murder. He is pleading not guilty and says he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Jordan Davis, 17, of Marietta, Ga., outside the store in Jacksonville in 2012.

According to authorities, an argument began after Dunn, in a neighboring car, told Davis and his friends to turn the music down they were listening to in an SUV outside the convenience store. One of Davis' friends turned the music down, but Davis then told him to turn it back up.

Officials say Dunn became enraged and he and Davis began arguing. Dunn, who had a concealed weapons permit, pulled a 9 mm handgun from the glove compartment, according to an affidavit, and fired nine shots into the SUV.

The associate medical examiner, Stacey Simons, testified Monday that the first bullet that hit Davis in the abdomen likely killed him. The bullet went from his lower right abdomen, into his diaphragm, through his liver and hit his aorta, she said.

"I believe it would have been fatal within a matter of minutes," Simons said.

Sukhan Warf, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement analyst, also said toxicology tests on Davis showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in his body.

Maria Pagan, another FDLE analyst, testified earlier in the day about the steps Dunn took before shooting the teen. Her testimony bolstered the contention from prosecutors that Michael Dunn acted with premeditation when he fatally shot Davis.

Dunn would have had to remove the gun from its holster, load the chamber with a bullet and then apply six pounds of pressure to fire it, Pagan said.

Dunn fired the gun 10 times, hitting the SUV nine times, and he would have had to pull the trigger every time using more than six pounds of pressure each time, Pagan said.

Pagan answered affirmatively when prosecutor Angela Corey asked, "Does that take a conscious effort of the shooter to have a second-round come out?"

The first witness to testify for the defense was Randy Berry, a friend of Dunn.

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